Thursday, September 10, 2009

The Crucible

I've been reading Stein on Writing for the last two years. It's an excellent book and I picked it up yesterday to read a chapter. The chapter I'd read last caught my attention though, and I reread it.

Says Stein "A Crucible is an environment, emotional or physical, that bonds two people. It can be a scene or a series of scenes, but more often the crucible is an entire book. The crucible is a relationship, often one influenced by locale."

He cites some examples, including Lolita, because the hero is in love with a young woman, really, a child. The Count of Monte Cristo is a story that immediately came to my mind. First, the hero is in a prison in the sea from which no one ever returns. Then he escapes and his crucible becomes his desire for revenge, which keeps him from the only woman he has ever loved.

Have you ever heard this term before? Is there a crucible in your manuscript? Can you think of any books or movies with a definite and strong crucible?

48 comments:

No, I haven't heard of this term before. But I love the concept. No books or movies immediately come to mind. I guess Lord of the rings had a pretty strong crucible. Does that count? Sorry, Jess, Can't think. :)

I'm like Jody, I've heard the term before and know what it is, but not in relationship to writing. I will read more on it. Thanks for getting my mind cranked up this early morning! Love learning new things.

Wow. I never thought of this before in relation to writing, only in real life!The one book/play/move that comes to my mind is Don Quiote/Man of LaMancha. He and the girl he loves are in a crucible. It's a fascinating, multi-layed story of love and victory and grace.

I'd never hear of a crucible in the writing world before, except for that Arthur Miller play about the Salem Witch Trials. But I can see how you'd need one in, well, EVERY story you write, especially in every romance story.

An emotional or physical environment is a pretty broad base, so I bet a person could find a crucible in any story they read or write, otherwise it wouldn't have any kind of depth.

Thank you so much for entering a new word into my vocabulary. I like it. Crucible. Cool.

I've heard the word, but that's about it.Thinking in real-life terms right now, and I'd say my grandmother's recent fall and the resulting hospital/re-hab environment was a crucible. Because it certainly bonded us!

ooooh. love this post and the ideas that it generated! my heroine's crucible in Blessed is her self-sufficiency and reluctance to trust ANYone, b/c the few times she has trusted, it ended disastrously.

Hey mom, I know we already talked on the phone but in case anyone else reads this, isn't there a famous play about religion and the Salem Witch trials called the Crucible?Oh, you know, Linda Kage above mentioned that. It might be why the word makes us think of religion. Hmmmm...

I hadn't heard of this term- but I have heard of the "marriage bed" or "marriage box" for romance- where you get the two main characters alone together- for as long as possible. Ex: cabin in the woods, seaside getaway, etc.

I've heard this before from this same book. I'm still not sure I get it completely though. I think of books where the hero and heroine are trapped on an island and consider their situation being a crucible. They're confined and get escape so they must work through their troubles. Does that fit?

Wow, Jessie! As stated above many times, you really made us put our thinkers on with this one! I love learning new lit terms, so thanks so much for the thought provoking post. :-)

I researched online, and here's one definition I found that lays it out very clear: Every story needs a firm reason the character can't just walk away from the story trouble. This is called the story crucible.

So, that in mind ... my story crucible in my WIP for my hero, is his developing feelings for the heroine and his desire to help her keep her estate. My heroine's crucible is her love and devotion for her nieces and brother, causing her to fight to keep her estate.

Interestingly, it seems that my crucible does revolve around a place. Hmmm.

I've never heard that term used for writing before - although in high school I had a part in the play "The Crucible" so I knew the word, just not in a writing context. I'll have to think about it more in applying it to my own stories.

My heart is filled with romantic stories, my shelves are loaded with chocolate and I'm always longing for one more cup of Starbucks. Besides that, I write for Love Inspired Historical and am a happy mom to a bunch of little boys. I post on Wednesdays and love connecting with readers and writers.